Saturday, November 24, 2007

an unconventional thanksgiving

This indoor waterpark was the site of Thanksgiving 2007 for The Child and me. I have given up on trying to seek a traditional Thanksgiving. I am not traditional- no use pretending. I am a single parent, never married. I have no extended family to speak of, ever since my mother died many years ago. One year, when The Child was 10 months old, I held a quasi-traditional Thanksgiving meal at my house, complete with turkey, stuffing, potatoes and green beans. An assortment of friends attended. I was lucky that year; many friends were available and willing to share the date with us.
Too bad The Child was 10 months old- too young to have any conscious memories of that particular occasion. I'm not sure he believes me when I tell him about that very memorable Thanksgiving. Since then, those friends have married off, moved away, or become too busy.This year I thought I'd try something different. The Child has always been drawn to water, so I suspected he'd love one of those enormous waterparks which have recently been sprouting up all over the land. As for myself, I love bright lights and stimulation, so the above scene is rather appealing to me. Mind you, I am not proud of this preference of mine. I'd rather tell you that I'm a nature lover who wants to live in a cabin in the woods where my husband and I live off the land and homeschool our wholesome brood, but it isn't so. (Just to be sure I'm not confusing anyone, there is no husband, and technically, no brood since there's only one Child.)
And how many people get to test their athletic ability on a major holiday? Doesn't the above activity look more fun than sitting around a table full of fattening foods? (Seriously- I read that hospital emergency rooms are overflowing with people suffering heart attacks every Thanksgiving evening.)
Then, upon returning home, we were invited to a post-Thanksgiving dinner at Garnet's house, with his family from faraway and many of our friends. The Child and I managed to pull off a holiday featuring the best of both worlds.


13 comments:

Constance said...

Good Sunday morning to you, Betty !

The combination of seeing the water park and enjoying the decorations was a great one !

So glad that you enjoyed the best of bot worlds !

B.S. said...

Dear Annie,

Good Sunday morning to you!

I'm not sure if those decorations were a permanent feature, or if they were Christmas-related! In The Child's school district, any mention of Christmas is taboo. I assume the whole world is taking on that stance.

Anyway, I'm grateful for the lights!

Hugs,
Betty

chilly said...

Hello Betty,
Check out my blog "On The Bricks".
You've been tagged. LOL!
Hope you'll join in and play the game. :)
http://onthebricks.blogspot.com/

2bme said...

I just read "Skipping Christmas" by John Grisham. A friend gave it to me when last week I stated I was sick of the commercialism and was quitting Christmas....you've no idea how tempting it is.
He looks like he had a good time. You can make traditions for yourself and him. Just do the same thing every year. Who's to say what tradition should be!

B.S. said...

Dear Chilly,

I don't have time to do the tag thing, but thanks for thinking of me!!!!

Hugs,
Betty

B.S. said...

Dear Simply Me,

I have read that book!!! I enjoyed it very much. Yes, you make a good point- repetition is all it takes to create tradition. I like that.

Hugs,
Betty

Anonymous said...

Well I don't know but your Thanksgiving sounded pretty good to me. Something to be said for both types of celebrating. Traditional and non-traditional, unless of course you make it one. :o)

B.S. said...

Dear Easywriter,

Yep, it was pretty good. Who knows? Maybe the indoor waterpark will end up being our Thanksgiving tradition. It works for me!

Hugs,
Betty

Dust-bunny said...

The indoor water park looks like fun, I'd probably be making a fool out of myself right beside my kids!!

Tradition is whatever you make it to be. I have a tradition on Christmas Eve that no matter where or when Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" comes on (even if we're right in the middle of dinner), I have to get up and run around and dance. Of course, this works much better if there is wine involved.

B.S. said...

Dear Dust-bunny,

I can just picture you carrying out your Mariah Carey tradition! That sounds like a whirlingbetty kind of tradition for sure.

Hugs,
Betty

Kacey said...

Looks like yoou had a wonderful time. Here's to more fun during Christmas break --- I refuse to call it winter holiday!

DTclarinet said...

Betty- Sounds like this was a positive experience. I'm so glad. I know how you worried aobut it. You can trust your intuition about these ideas in the future.

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